For those that are new around here, this is an extension of my weekly newsletter where I highlight new and innovative AI products that are worth exploring.
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Happy Wednesday!
Hereโs your news in newsletter!
Riding off the high of yesterdayโs catchup recap, Todayโs News issue covers the news from the past week, so itโll be short and sweet.
In this Issue:
Your Weekly Industry News Recap
Investors; We need to talk
The Raise Recap

The Headliner: Azure AI Foundry Labs๐งช๐ฐ
Microsoft just unveiled Azure AI Foundry Labs, a cutting-edge research hub designed to push the boundaries of AI innovation. This initiative will provide researchers and developers access to advanced AI models, computing power, and real-world experimentation tools. With a focus on breakthroughs in generative AI, machine learning, and AI ethics, Microsoft aims to accelerate the accessibility of intelligent solutions. ๐๐ก Read more: Link

Your Weekly Industry News Recap
How to Make AI More Sustainable (Without Greenwashing): AI is an energy hogโthis article explores real ways to make AI greener without the empty hype. ๐ฑโก Read more: Link
The AI Brain Drain Dilemma: Countries are losing AI talent at an alarming rateโwhatโs causing this "brain drain" and how do we fix it? ๐๐ฌRead more: Link
NISTโs AI Security Testing Update: AI security testing is getting an overhaulโNIST just released new guidance on automating security monitoring. ๐๐ก๏ธ Read more: Link
The Downfall of AI Startup Humane: What went wrong with Humane, and why did its once-promising AI wearable company crash and burn? ๐ฌ๐ธ Read more: Link
Tencent Reshuffles AI Division Amid Rising Competition: Chinese tech giant Tencent is restructuring its AI app ecosystem to keep up with fierce market battles. ๐ฑ Read more: Link
Azure AI Foundry Labs Launches: Microsoft unveils AI Foundry Labs, a new hub for AI research and real-world experimentation. ๐งช๐ป Read more: Link
Anthropicโs New AI Model Gives Users More Control: A customizable reasoning model from Anthropic lets users decide how much AI โthinksโ before responding. ๐ง โก Read more: Link
Zillow Uses AI to Build Software Without Engineers: Replit & Anthropicโs AI agents just helped Zillow create production-level softwareโwith zero engineers! ๐คฏ๐ก Read more: Link
The Ethical AI DebateโDoes It Even Exist?: "Ethical AI" sounds great, but some experts argue itโs a mythโcan AI ever truly be unbiased? โ๏ธ๐ค Read more: Link
Invisible, Autonomous, and HackableโThe AI Agent Dilemma: AI agents are smart, but are they too smart for their own good? The risks are mounting. ๐จ๐ค Read more: Link

Investors; We Need To Talkโฆ
Over the past year of reporting on AI, Weโve watched astronomic valuations get slapped on startups building foundational infrastructureโchipsets, core models, and research labs. But hereโs the thing: weโre in a sandbox era, where everyoneโs experimenting, and the real winners wonโt be the ones selling the newest iteration of the shovel. Theyโll be the ones digging up value that people actually use. Weโre in an exploratory phase that I like to call the sandbox era! What does this mean for investors? It means your chips might want to be balanced across a few positions. Which ones? Read the whole article on the state of funding for the AI space.

The Raise Recap ๐๐ฐย
Covu Increases Series A to $32M: AI-powered insurance tech startup Covu secures $32M after hitting major milestonesโreshaping the future of insurtech. ๐๐ค Read more: Link
Spyne Secures $16M for AI Expansion: AI-powered image editing startup Spyne lands $16M in Series A to expand into the U.S. market. ๐ธ๐ก Read more: Link
Lambda AI Raises $480M in NVIDIA-Backed Round: AI cloud startup Lambda secures a whopping $480M, with NVIDIA among its investors. ๐ป๐ Read more: Link
Abridge Raises $250M for AI Healthcare: Abridge secures $250M to enhance AI-powered clinical documentation tools for doctors. ๐ฅ๐ Read more: Link
Dream Secures $100M for AI Cybersecurity: AI-powered cybersecurity startup Dream lands $100M to protect critical infrastructure. ๐๐ฐ Read more: Link
Together AI Raises $305M in Series B: AI cloud firm Together AI secures $305M to boost AI-driven model hosting services. โ๏ธ๐ค Read more: Link
AuditoriaAI Raises $38M for AI Finance Tech: AI-driven finance automation platform AuditoriaAI lands $38M in Series B funding. ๐ฐ ๐Read more: Link
Gomboc AI Raises $13M for Cloud Security: AI-powered cloud security firm Gomboc raises $13M to automate cybersecurity risk remediation. ๐๐ Read more: Link
OpenEvidence Secures Sequoia Investment ($1B Valuation): AI-powered legal research startup OpenEvidence reaches a $1B valuation with Sequoia's backing. โ๏ธ๐ต Read more: Link
Baseten Lands $75M to Solve AI Bottlenecks: AI infrastructure startup Baseten secures $75M to tackle AI inference challenges at scale. ๐๐ฅ๏ธ Read more: Link
Hereโs What Iโm Watching ๐๐
Latest Progress on AI Agents at scale! Venturebeat meets with Sam Witteveen to dive deeper into the progress of some of the bigger publicly active players.

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Stay well, and see you next week!
-โ๐ฝ Sam